Boy oh boy! It's Barney Roy

Dubai - The six-year-old, owned by Godolphin racing operation, made a triumphant return to top flight racing by clinching the Group 2 Al Rashidiya in the fifth race meeting of the Dubai World Cup Carnival on Thursday night.

Dream comebacks are the stuff of fairytales. Yet, comebacks are never easy. And while there is that hope of a good return, there is always that niggling thought at the back of the head that it could go wrong.
Barney Roy, an accomplished Group 1 winner, faced one of his toughest battles yet and he came through in flying colours to conjure a fairytale at the Meydan Racecourse.
The six-year-old, owned by Godolphin racing operation, made a triumphant return to top flight racing by clinching the Group 2 Al Rashidiya in the fifth race meeting of the Dubai World Cup Carnival on Thursday night.
Barney Roy, winner of the St James' Palace Stakes in 2017, paced the nine-furlong race nicely to win by 2.25 lengths over stablemate Dream Castle. He hung back with 500 metres to go before making his move with 200 metres to play out with his class showing in the end.
It was a clean sweep for Godolphin with the top four being the stable's runners. Mountain Hunter, who along with Dream Castle, is saddled by Saeed bin Suroor, the most successful Dubai World Cup trainer of all time, finished third.
Loxely, the second of Charlie Appleby's runners after Barney Roy, was fourth.
Barney Roy, the six-year-old from Excelebration, was making a comeback after a failed attempt to stud, during which he missed the entire 2018 season.
With such a brilliant comeback, his handlers will be lining him up for the Dubai Turf on Dubai World Cup night. But before that, Barney Roy will most likely contest the Group 1 Jebel Hatta on Super Saturday on March 7.
"He relaxed nice in the race. He's been off for a while, so he's entitled to be a little bit fresh, but I suppose in many ways, that's a performance you want to see from a horse with his previous form and his class," said jockey William Buick.
Meanwhile, Appleby was delighted to see his ward come back with a bang and revealed that Super Saturday will mark his next foray. "I was always hopeful that his class would prevail and that is what we've seen at the end. It's just nice to see him back to his winning ways this evening. Hopefully he'll gain a bit of confidence and we can tiptoe toward Super Saturday," said Appleby.
"All being well, it's one step at a time. We'll get Super Saturday out of the way and hopefully we can book ourselves a slot for Dubai World Cup night," he added.
Meanwhile, Dee Ex Bee, the highest rated horse on the night, got a good run out ahead of the Saudi Cup and the Dubai Gold Cup, with a fifth-place finish in the Meydan Cup, on his UAE debut. Appleby's Secret Advisor, the mount of Tadhg O'Shea won the 14-furlong affair.
Plata O Plomo triumphed in the Mina Hamriya Handicap Salute The Soldier won the Mina Rashid Handicap.
Satish Seemar's Gladiator King landed the Group  3 Al Shindagha Sprint, while American Graffiti won the Jebel Ali Port Handicap, the last race of the night.
Earlier, the evening had begun with Ziyadd striding to victory in the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 for Purebred Arabians to seal a spot in next month's The Obaiya Classic of the inaugural Saudi Cup.
james@khaleejtimes.com